During the Soviet era the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (the R.S.F.S.R.) was subject to a series of Soviet constitutions (1918, 1924, 1936, 1977), under which it nominally was a sovereign socialist state within (after 1936) a federal structure. Until the late 1980s, however, the government was dominated at all levels by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which was all-powerful and whose head was the country’s de facto leader. Indeed, in the elections that were held, there was only a single slate of candidates, the great majority of whom were in effect chosen by the Communist Party.

From the late 1980s through 1991—the period of Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika (“restructuring”), glasnost (“openness”), and demokratizatsiya (“democratization”) reform policies—fundamental changes took place in the political system and government structures of the Soviet Union that altered both the nature of the Soviet federal state and the status and powers of the individual republics. In 1988 the Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies was created, and a Congress of People’s Deputies was established in each republic. For the first time, elections to these bodies presented voters with a choice of candidates, including noncommunists, though the Communist Party continued to dominate the system.

Thereafter, the pace of change accelerated. In June 1990 the Congress of the Russian republic proclaimed that Russian laws took precedence over Soviet laws, and the following year Boris Yeltsin became the republic’s first democratically elected president. An abortive coup in August 1991 by hard-liners opposed to Gorbachev’s reforms led to the collapse of most Soviet government organizations, the abolition of the Communist Party’s leading role in government, and the dissolution of the party itself. Republic after republic declared its “sovereignty,” and in December, when the Soviet Union was formally dissolved, Russia was established as an independent country.

Constitutional framework

The structure of the new Russian government differed significantly from that of the former Soviet republic. It was characterized by a power struggle between the executive and legislative branches, primarily over issues of constitutional authority and the pace and direction of democratic and economic reform. Conflicts came to a head in September 1993 when President Yeltsin dissolved the Russian parliament (the Congress of People’s Deputies and the Supreme Soviet); some deputies and their allies revolted and were suppressed only through military intervention.

On December 12, 1993, three-fifths of Russian voters ratified a new constitution proposed by Yeltsin, and representatives were elected to a new legislature. Under the new constitution the president, who is elected in a national vote and can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms, is vested with significant powers. As Russia’s head of state, the president is empowered to appoint the chairman of the government (prime minister), key judges, and cabinet members. The president is also commander in chief of the armed forces and can declare martial law or a state of emergency. When the legislature fails to pass the president’s legislative initiatives, he may issue decrees that have the force of law.

Under the new constitution the Federal Assembly became the country’s legislature. It consists of the Federation Council (an upper house in which each of Russia’s administrative regions divisions has two representatives) and the State Duma (a 450-member lower house). The president’s nominee for chairman of the government is subject to approval by the State Duma; if it rejects a nominee three times or passes a vote of no confidence twice in three months, the president may dissolve the State Duma and call for new elections. All legislation must first pass the State Duma before being considered by the Federation Council. A presidential veto of a bill can be overridden by the legislature with a two-thirds majority, or a bill may be altered to incorporate presidential reservations and pass with a majority vote. With a two-thirds majority (and approval by the Russian Constitutional Court), the legislature may remove the president from office for treason or other serious criminal offenses. The Federation Council must approve all presidential appointments to the country’s highest judicial bodies (Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and Supreme Court of Arbitration).

The constitution provides for welfare protection, access to social security, pensions, free health care, and affordable housing. The constitution also guarantees local self-governance, though national law takes precedence over regional and local laws and the constitution enumerates many areas that either are administered jointly by the regions and the central government or are the exclusive preserve of the central government. In the decade after the constitution’s enactment, the government implemented several measures to reduce the power and influence of regional governments and governors; for example, in 2000 President Vladimir Putin created seven federal districts (see discussion below) above the regional level to increase the central government’s power over the regions.

Regional and local government

Under the Russian constitution the central government retains significant authority, but regional and local governments have been given an array of powers. For example, they exercise authority over municipal property and policing, and they can impose regional taxes. Owing to a lack of assertiveness by the central government, Russia’s administrative regions—divisions—oblasti (provincesregions), minority republics, okruga (autonomous districts), kraya (territories), federal cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg), and the one autonomous oblast—exerted considerable power in the initial years after the passage of the 1993 constitution. The constitution gives equal power to each of the country’s administrative regions divisions in the Federal Assembly. However, the power of the regions divisions was diluted in 2000 when seven federal districts (Central, Far East, Northwest, Siberia, Southern, Urals, and Volga), each with its own presidential envoy, were established by the central government. The envoys were given the power to implement federal law and to coordinate communication between the president and the regional governors. Legally, the envoys in federal districts had solely the power of communicating the executive guidance of the federal president. In practice, however, the guidance has served more as directives, as the president was able to use the envoys to enforce presidential authority over the regional governments.

In comparison to the federal government, regional governments generally have inadequate tax revenue to support mandatory items in their budgets, which have barely been able to cover wages for teachers and police. The budgets of regional governments also are overburdened by pensions.

Legislation has further affirmed the power of the federal government over the regions. For example, the regional governors and their deputies were prohibited from representing their region in the Federation Council on the grounds that their sitting in the Federation Council violated the principle of the separation of powers; however, under a compromise, both the legislative and executive branch of each region sent a member to the Federation Council. Legislation enacted in 2004 permitted the president to appoint the regional governors, who earlier were elected. In the first decade of the 21st century, the country began to undergo administrative change aimed at subordinating smaller okruga to neighbouring members of the federation.

Following these reforms in regional government, the new federal districts began to replace the 11 traditional economic regions, particularly for statistical purposes. The Central district unites the city of Moscow with all administrative divisions within the Central and Central Black Earth economic regions. The Northwest district combines the city of St. Petersburg with all areas in the North and Northwest regions, including Kaliningrad provinceoblast. The Southern district includes the units of the North Caucasus economic region and the republic of Kalmykia. The Volga district merges two economic regions, Volga-Vyatka and Volga, with the exception of Kalmykia. Additionally, five some administrative regions divisions from the Ural economic region (Bashkortostan, Udmurtiya, Orenburg, Perm, and Komi-Permyak) are included in the Volga federal district. The Urals district consists of the remaining administrative divisions of the Ural economic region along with several regions (Tyumen, Khanty-Mansi, and Yamalo-Nenets) from the West Siberia economic region. The Siberia district unites the remainder of the West Siberia economic region and all of East Siberia. Finally, the Far East district is congruent with the Far East economic region.

Several of the administrative regions divisions established constitutions that devolved power to local jurisdictions, and, though the 1993 constitution guaranteed local self-governance, the powers of local governments vary considerably. Some local authorities, particularly in urban centres, exercise significant power and are responsible for taxation and the licensing of businesses. Moscow and St. Petersburg have particularly strong local governments, with both possessing a tax base and government structure that dwarf the country’s other regions. Local councils in smaller communities are commonly rubber-stamp agencies, accountable to the city administrator, who is appointed by the provincial regional governor. In the mid-1990s municipal government was restructured. City councils (dumas), city mayors, and city administrators replaced former city soviets.

Justice

Russia’s highest judicial body is the Supreme Court, which supervises the activities of all other judicial bodies and serves as the final court of appeal. The Supreme Court has been supplemented since 1991 by a Constitutional Court, established to review Russian laws and treaties. The Constitutional Court is presided over by 19 judges, who are nominated by the president and approved by the Federation Council. Appointed to life terms, judges for both the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court must be at least 25 years of age and hold a law degree. The Constitutional Court has the power of judicial review, which enables it to rule on the constitutionality of laws. The Russian legal system has attempted to overcome the repression practiced during the Soviet era by requiring public trials and guaranteeing a defense for the accused. The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation rules on commercial disputes. (For discussion of the legal system during the Soviet period, see Soviet law.)

Political process

Soviet-era politics was authoritarian and predictable. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union dominated the political process, and elections were merely ritualistic, with voters not allowed a choice between freely competing political parties. Political reform in the 1980s and ’90s brought greater freedom, but it also spawned the formation of hundreds of political organizations and parties. With so many parties and with wide disagreement over the pace and direction of reforms, Russian elections have been characterized by instability. Although reform-oriented parties won victories in the early 1990s, institutions such as the army and the intelligence services continued to exert considerable influence, and many bureaucrats were highly resistant to change. Some political parties that attracted wide support at the beginning time of the 1990s Russia’s independence were moribund by the beginning of the 21st century, and some coalitions were formed solely around the appeal of an individual charismatic leader. In contrast to 1995, when 43 political parties competed, only 26 contested the 1999 election. Legislation enacted under the Putin regime attempted to further reduce the number of political parties by mandating that they have at least 10,000 members and registered offices in at least half of Russia’s regions to compete in national elections. Although reform-oriented parties won victories in the early 1990s, institutions such as the army and the intelligence services continued to exert considerable influence, and many bureaucrats were highly resistant to changeIn the 2007 legislative elections, only four parties gained enough votes to be represented in the State Duma.

All citizens at least age 18 are eligible to vote. Presidential elections are contested in two rounds; if no candidate receives a majority in the first round, there is a runoff between the top two candidates. For elections to the State Duma, voters cast separate ballots for a party and for a representative from a single-member district. Half the seats in the State Duma are allocated based on the party vote, with all parties winning at least 5 percent of the national vote guaranteed representation on a proportional basis, and half through the single-member-district contests. Each regional governor and the head of each regional assembly appoint one member to serve in the Federation Council.

Several of the political parties that formed in the 1990s had a notable impact. Despite the dissolution of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the general demise of communism, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation emerged as a major political force. Indeed, in both 1996 and 2000 the Communist Party’s leader finished second in the presidential balloting, and in 2000 its contingent in the State Duma was the largest (though the party was a distant second in 2003). The ultranationalist and xenophobic Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) capitalized on popular disenchantment and fear in the early 1990s. Led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who finished third in the presidential election of 1991, the LDP won more than one-fifth of the vote and 64 seats in the State Duma elections in 1993. By the end of the decade, however, support for the party had dropped dramatically; its support rebounded slightly in 2003, when it won nearly one-eighth of the vote. Throughout the 1990s Yeltsin’s government was viewed unfavourably by a large proportion of the Russian public. To secure legislative support for his policies, Yeltsin encouraged the formation of the Our Home Is Russia party in 1995 and the Unity party in 1999; both parties finished behind the Communist Party in parliamentary elections. Parties supportive of the most liberal policies, such as Grigory Yavlinsky’s Yabloko (Apple) party, found themselves unable to secure a firm base outside the intelligentsia. One of the most intriguing parties that formed in the 1990s was the Women of Russia party, which captured 8 percent of the vote in the 1993 State Duma election, though its level support had dropped by about three-fourths by the end of the decade. In 2001 a number of parties merged to form the pro-Putin United Russia party; beginning in 2003, this bloc held the largest number of seats in the State Duma.

In the Soviet era women played a prominent role in politics. The Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies required that women constitute at least one-third of the total membership. Quotas subsequently were removed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and representation for women had declined dramatically by the mid-1990s to roughly 10 percent in the State Duma and 5 percent in the Federation Council.

In 2005 a People’s Chamber was established to serve as an advisory board for Russia’s civil society. A Soviet-style amalgam of officials (President Putin supervised the confirmation of the initial members), it added additional support for the presidency.

Security

The Russian armed forces consist of an army, navy, air force (which merged with the air defense force in 1998), and strategic rocket force, all under the command of the president. About half the troops are conscripts: military service, lasting 18 months for the army or 24 months for the navy, is compulsory for men over age 18, although draft evasion is widespread. In the 1990s controversy arose over attempts to reduce the size of the armed forces and create a professional military by abolishing conscription. In addition to an extensive reserve force, Russia maintains defense facilities in several former Soviet republics and contributes a small proportion of its troops to the joint forces of the CIS. Russia’s military capacity has declined since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, it still has one of the world’s largest armed forces establishments, which includes a vast nuclear arsenal.

During the Cold War the Soviet Union established the Warsaw Pact (1955), a treaty that was designed to counter the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Warsaw Treaty Organization was dissolved in 1991, after which Russia maintained an uneasy military relationship with the United States and NATO, particularly during the fighting in the Balkans in the 1990s. Nevertheless, by the end of the 1990s Russia and NATO had signed a cooperation agreement, and in 2002 the NATO-Russia Council was established to help develop a consensus on foreign and military policies. In 1991 Russia assumed the Soviet Union’s permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Foreign and domestic intelligence operations are managed, respectively, by the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Federal Security Service, agencies that emerged in the 1990s after the reorganization of the Soviet KGB (Committee for State Security) in 1991. High officials are protected by the Presidential Security Service, which was established in 1993. A Federal Border Service, which combats transborder crimes (particularly drug trafficking and smuggling), and several other intelligence agencies were also established in the 1990s. Local police forces have been overwhelmed by the organized crime that flourished in Russia after the fall of communism. Well-trained private security forces have become increasingly common.

Health and welfare

Public welfare funds from the state budget, enterprises, and trade unions are used substantially to improve the material and social conditions of workers in Russia. Social welfare programs formerly were funded by the central government, but in the 1990s employer-based social insurance and pension funds, to which workers also contributed, were introduced. A major portion of the public welfare budget funds free medical service, training, pensions, and scholarships. Russian workers and professionals receive paid vacations of up to one month.

During much of the Soviet period, advances in health care and material well-being led to a decline in mortality, the control or eradication of the more dangerous infectious diseases, and an increase in the average life span. After 1991, however, public health deteriorated dramatically.

In the 1990s the death rate reached its highest level of the 20th century (excluding wartime). Life expectancy fell dramatically (though it began to rise again by the end of the decade), and infectious diseases that had been under control spread again. In addition, the country suffered high rates of cancer, tuberculosis, and heart disease. Various social, ecological, and economic factors underlay these developments, including funding and medicine shortages, insufficiently paid and trained medical personnel (e.g., many medical schools lack sufficient supplies and instructors), poor intensive and emergency care, the limited development of specialized services such as maternity and hospice care, contaminated food and drinking water, duress caused by economic dislocation, poor nutrition, contact with toxic substances in the workplace, and high rates of alcohol and tobacco consumption. Air pollution in heavily industrialized areas has led to relatively high rates of lung cancer in these regions, and high incidences of stomach cancer have occurred in regions where consumption of carbohydrates is high and intake of fruits, vegetables, milk, and animal proteins is low.

Alcoholism, especially among men, has long been a severe public health problem in Russia. At the beginning of the 21st century, it was estimated that some one-third of men and one-sixth of women were addicted to alcohol. The problem is particularly acute in rural areas and among the Evenk, Sakha, Koryak, and Nenets in Russia’s northern regions. Widespread alcoholism has its origins in the Soviet-era “vodka-based economy,” which countered shortages in the supply of food and consumer goods with the production of vodka, a nonperishable product that was easily transportable. The government has sponsored media campaigns to promote healthy living and imposed strict tax regulations aimed at reducing the profitability of vodka producers; in addition, group-therapy sessions (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous) have spread. There also have been proposals to prohibit the sale of hard liquors in the regions with the highest rates of alcoholism.

Housing

Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, nearly all of the housing stock of urban areas was owned by the state. Indeed, private property was prohibited in urban areas, and in rural areas the size of private homes was strictly limited. High-rise apartment buildings with a very unpretentious architecture made up the bulk of the stock. Local authorities were responsible for renting arrangements, and in “company towns” the management of state enterprises was given this responsibility. Rental payments were kept extremely low and, in most cases, were not enough to pay maintenance costs. Deterioration of housing was rapid and vandalism widespread. In addition, many apartments were shared by tenants, with joint-access kitchens and bathrooms, and the space of the average apartment in Russia was about one-third to one-half the size of those found in western Europe.

The housing sector underwent vigorous privatization in the 1990s, and there was a decline in state-supported construction. Many renters were offered title to their units for free, though many older Russians decided to forego the necessary paperwork and continued to rent. Nevertheless, by the mid-1990s more than half of Russia’s housing was privately owned, with the remainder administered by municipal authorities. Conditions improved considerably in owner-occupied housing, as the owners in apartment buildings were able to ensure the enforcement of maintenance rules, but public housing, owing to a lack of funds from local authorities, continued to deteriorate.

In the 1990s many of the housing shortages characteristic of the Soviet period disappeared, and the floor space of homes per person steadily increased, largely the result of a construction boom for private homes. For example, the construction of private housing tripled in urban areas and nearly doubled in the rural areas. However, there were sharp declines in the construction of public housing, particularly in rural areas.

Education

Education in the Soviet Union was highly centralized, with the state owning and operating nearly every school. The curriculum was rigid, and the system aimed to indoctrinate students in the communist system. As with many aspects of the Soviet system, schools were often forced to operate in crowded facilities and with limited resources. With democratization there was widespread support for educational reforms. In 1992 the federal government passed legislation enabling regions where non-Russians predominated to exercise some degree of autonomy in education; still, diplomas can be conferred only in the Russian, Bashkir, and Tatar languages, and the federal government has responsibility for designing and distributing textbooks, licensing teachers, and setting the requirements for instruction in the Russian language, sciences, and mathematics. School finance and the humanities, history, and social science curricula are entrusted to provincial regional authorities.

Preschool education in Russia is very well developed; some four-fifths of children aged 3 to 6 attend crèches (day nurseries) or kindergartens. Schooling is compulsory for nine years. It starts from age 7 (in some areas from 6) and leads to a basic general education certificate. An additional two or three years of schooling are required for the secondary-level certificate, and some seven-eighths of Russian students continue their education past this level. Non-Russian schoolchildren are taught in their own language, but Russian is a compulsory subject at the secondary level.

Admission to an institute of higher education is selective and highly competitive: first-degree courses usually take five years. Higher education is conducted almost entirely in Russian, although there are a few institutions, mainly in the minority republics, where the local language is also used.

Russia’s oldest university is Moscow State University, which was founded in 1755. Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, Russian universities in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kazan produced world-class scholars, notably the mathematician Nikolay Lobachevsky and the chemist Dmitry Mendeleyev. Although universities suffered severely during the purges of the Stalinist regime, a number have continued to provide high-quality education, particularly in the sciences. In addition to Moscow State University, the most important institutions include St. Petersburg State University (founded 1819) and Novosibirsk State University (1959).

Since the demise of the Soviet Union, the quantity and diversity of universities and institutes have undergone unprecedented expansion. In 1991 the country had some 500 institutions of higher education, all of which were controlled by the state. By the beginning of the 21st century, the number of state schools had increased by nearly one-fifth, though many suffered from inadequate state funding, dated equipment, and overcrowding. The state schools were joined by more than 300 private colleges and universities. which were all established after 1994. Licensed by the state, these schools generally enjoyed better funding than the state schools; however, they were very costly and served mainly Russia’s new middle class.